^ — 

The 

Story 

of 

^ 

Kate 

and 

Qieen 

Beery 

■  ■'■■  ■' A 

m^''  \ 


lAe  Stori/  of 


By 

o/esse  Beer  A 


) 


i 


^tMtirfmlfy  Ubraiv  of  Veterinaiy  Meddne 

CwnmlnBi  Sdmoi  of  Veterinary  Medicine  a^ 

T^i^  University 

200  WestboTD  Road 


TUFTS   UNIVERSITY    LjBBARIES 


3  9090  014  665   174 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  IVIember  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/storyofkatequeenOObeer 


The  Story  of 


"Kate  and  Queen 

How  "Kate"  Became  an  Outlaw  and 
How  "Queen"  Became  the  Family 
Driver    :    :   As  Told  by  Themselves 


yj 


By 
PROFESSOR  JESSE  BEERY 

Author  of 

Bcery's  Mail  Course  in  Horsemanship  and  namerous  other 

Works  on  Horses.     Also  Designer  of  the 

Famous  "Beery  Bit" 

PLEASANT  HILL,  OHIO. 
U.  S.  A. 


Copyrighted  1908 

By 

JESSE  BEERY 

Pleasant  Hill,  Ohio 


PREFACE 

These  short  stories  are  written,  that 
you  who  love  horses  may  spend  an  hour 
in  their  company  and  have  them  talk  to  you 
from  their  view  of  life. 

The  author  has  spent  his  life  with 
horses,  studying  their  disposition.  He  has 
had  a  wide  experience  training  colts  and 
the  most  vicious  outlaws. 

Only  an  exceedingly  small  percent  of 
horses  are  naturally  vicious;  but  most 
horses  can  be  trained  to  be  vicious.  A 
horse  can  be  trained  to  kick,  as  well  as  he 
can  be  trained  not  to  kick ;  he  can  be  trained 
to  run  away  as  well  as  not  to  run  away. 

The  author  believes  that  horses  do  just 
what  they  are  trained  to  do. 

This  book  is  intended  to  present  horse 
life  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  horse,  with 
the  hope  that  it  will  be  found  interesting 
and  suggestive  to  every  reader. 

It  is  almost  useless  to  say  that  ^'Kate" 


is  a  tjrpe  of  the  thousands  of  horses  that 
have  been  brought  to  the  author  for  sub- 
jection. "Queen"  is  the  type  of  hundreds 
of  colts  that  have  been  trained  by  his  own 
systematic  methods.  Therefore  the  inci- 
dents and  methods  mentioned  are  not  vague 
imaginations,  but  facts. 

It  is  gratifying  to  the  author  that  the 
public  has  appreciated  this  work  and  he  de- 
sires to  extend  his  thanks  in  this  public  way 
for  the  many  kind  words  received  from 
readers,  in  many  parts  of  the  world. 


''KATE" 


ii 


Old  Kate's  Confession'' 


Old  Kate  and  Queen  had  finished  their 
evening's  allotment  of  oats,  and  were  de- 
liberately crunching  a  mouthful  of  sweet- 
scented  hay  at  intervals.  These  two  horses 
belonged  to  Mr.  Lamar,  a  prosperous  farm- 
er, who  lived  on  a  beautiful  well-kept  farm, 
not  far  from  the  city.  Mr.  Lamar  was  a 
great  admirer  of  good  horses  and  always 
kept  several  about  him.  He  loved,  especial- 
ly, to  have  a  good  driving  horse,  but  took  no 
particular  delight  in  training  a  horse,  and, 
consequently,  left  that  task  to  the  farm 
hands  for  a  rainy  day  job. 

Fourteen  years  had  passed  by  since 
Kate  had  been  brought  to  the  farm,  a  beau- 
tiful two-year-old  filly.  Her  beautiful 
form,  sleek  brown  coat  and  pedigree  that 
extended  for  several  generations  into  the 
most  aristocratic  of  horse  families,  had  in- 
duced Mr.  Lamar  to  pay  more  than  an 
ordinary  price  for  this  promising  colt.  He 
11 


THE  STORY  OF 

was  very  proud  of  her  when  lie  got  her 
home.  Her  good  size,  neat  limbs  and  spir- 
ited bearing  almost  fulfilled  his  ideal  of  the 
perfect  horse  he  had  longed  to  possess  for 
family  use. 

If  we  could  look  upon  Kate  as  she  stood 
in  her  stall  the  evening  of  our  story,  we 
could  hardly  believe  it  to  be  the  horse  that 
had  once  been  the  pride  of  such  an  excellent 
judge  of  horses  as  Mr.  Lamar. 

Her  coat  was  rough  and  neglected. 
There  were  many  scars  where  some  time 
had  been  many  deep  and  jagged  cuts.  There 
was  yet  fire  in  the  eye,  but  it  was  the  fire  of 
fierceness  rather  than  ambition.  The  ears, 
usually,  from  habit,  lay  back  close  to  the 
head,  and  everyone  knew  better  than  to 
approach  within  reach  of  her  teeth  or  heels. 
On  account  of  being  the  principal  of  many 
runaways  and  the  cause  of  many  bruised 
spots  upon  the  farm  hands  and  others,  her 
notoriety  was  great.  There  was  scarcely 
a  farmer  in  all  that  country  that  had  not 
12 


'♦KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

heard  of  some  of  the  thrilling  smashupi? 
and  narrow  escapes  caused  by  Lamar's  un- 
governable mare. 

She  occupies  a  large  box  stall  in  the  rear 
of  the  barn,  neglected  and  unnoticed,  except 
by  the  curious.  A  door  leads  from  her  stall 
into  a  small  lot.  In  nice  weather  this  door 
is  left  open  and  this  lot  and  box  stall  now 
constitute  old  Kate's  world. 

By  the  side  of  old  Kate's  stall,  stands 
Queen,  a  beautiful  four-year-old.  Those 
who  know  say  that  Queen  is  the  very  image 
of  Kate  in  her  younger  days.  Queen  is  the 
only  offspring  of  Kate,  and,  except  for  the 
marks  of  age,  had  the  same  well-formed 
head  and  large,  full  eye  and  thin  nostrils, 
indicating  the  same  ambition  and  hot  blood. 

Queen  was  known  to  everybody  as  the 
daughter  of  Old  Kate.  She  was  admired  by 
everyone  for  her  beauty.  She  was  praised 
by  some  for  her  excellent  behavior  and 
speed  record,  while  a  great  many  feared 
she  would  develop  the  ungovernable  temper 
13 


THE  STORY  OF 

of  her  mother,  and  it  was  also  hinted  that 
there  was  much  vicious  blood  in  the  line  of 
her  sire. 

This  evening  Queen  seemed  especially- 
kind  and  placid  as  she  ate  her  evening  meal. 
She  had  a  right  to  feel  greatly  pleased,  for 
she  had  that  day  carried  off  the  first  prize 
in  one  of  the  best  horse  shows  that  had  ever 
been  held  in  that  part  of  the  state.  Her 
free,  graceful  actions,  combined  with  her 
well-groomed  coat  of  brown,  beautifully 
arched  neck  and  lithe  limbs  made  her  the 
center  of  all  admiring  eyes. 

When  before  the  amphitheater  she  per- 
formed one  or  two  of  her  neat  little  tricks, 
taught  her  by  her  driver,  and  then,  when 
she  turned  to  the  crowd,  with  her  intelli- 
gent eyes  sparkling  and  nostrils  dilated, 
and  acknowledged  their  applause  by  three 
dignified  bows  of  her  head,  it  seemed  that 
that  vast  crowd  screamed  and  yelled 
enough  to  make  a  driver  lose  his  head  and 
frighten  any  ordinary  horse. 
14 


*'KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

Of  course  her  mother  noticed  by  her 
proud  neck  and  elastic  step  as  she  en- 
tered her  stall  that  evening  that  some- 
thing unusual  had  happened.  Between  bites 
of  hay  they  had  asked  and  answered  a  num- 
ber of  questions  pertaining  to  the  day,  when 
Old  Kate,  upon  being  asked  why  she  was 
never  taken  out  to  such  pleasant  places, 
assumed  a  reminiscent  mood,  and,  for  the 
first  time,  told  her  past  story  to  her 
daughter. 

I  shall  do  my  best  to  interpret  old 
Kate's  story,  as  she  told  it  that  night  in  her 
simple  sign  language.  It  was  told  by  the 
rubbing  of  noses,  with  now  and  then  a  low 
whinny.  Her  story  was  emphasized  by  a 
flash  of  the  eye  and  distended  nostril  as 
some  exciting  scene  came  up  in  memoiy; 
often  the  flat  ears  and  glaring  teeth  indi- 
cated great  passion  aroused,  and  many 
times,  as  tales  of  terrible  abuse  and  painful 
accidents  were  related,  the  skin  twitched 
and  the  whole  body  shook  with  nervousness. 
15 


THE  STOEY  OF 

At  intervals  the  sides  of  her  stall  resounded 
with  a  Idck  that  was  only  the  involuntary 
emphasis  placed  upon  that  part  of  her 
story  that  told  of  her  enormous  efforts  to 
release  herself  from  many  entangling 
traps. 

From  these  signs  her  story  interpreted 
is  as  follows :  *  'I  was  brought  to  this  place 
fourteen  years  ago.  I  was  then  young  and 
full  of  fun  and  life.  The  best  of  care  had 
always  been  given  me.  I  received  many 
dainties  to  eat  and  was  groomed  carefully 
every  day.  I  can  not  say  that  I  did  not 
receive  the  same  treatment  when  I  came 
here,  but,  soon  after  I  came,  a  misunder- 
standing arose  between  me  and  the  man 
that  has  blighted  all  my  happiness.  This 
misunderstanding  was  slight  at  first,  but  it 
continually  grew,  until  within  the  last  five 
or  six  years  we  have  had  nothing  to  do  with 
each  other. 

I  believe  that  it  was  just  after  dinner 
of  the  third  or  fourth  day  that  I  came 
16 


•*KATE"  AND  "QUEEN  ' 

here  that  my  trouble  began.  A  man 
came  into  the  stable  talking  loudly,  and 
walked  up  behind  me  with  a  whip  and  a 
large  bunch  of  stuff,  that  I  afterwards 
learned  was  harness.  I  did  not  know  then 
what  it  was,  and  that,  with  his  loud  talking, 
stirred  my  sensitive  nerves  at  once.  He 
yelled  something  at  me  that  I  did  not  un- 
derstand and  started  to  walk  up  to  my  side. 
I  was  afraid  of  him,  so  I  stepped  over  in 
front  of  him,  to  keep  him  out.  My  stall  was 
narrow,  and  I  could  easily  do  it.  He  struck 
me  with  the  whip  and  said  something  very 
loudly  that  I  did  not  understand.  I  sup- 
pose it  was,  '* Stand  over,"  or  something 
like  that.  I  did  not  know  a  word  of  man 's 
language  then,  so  I  do  not  remember  what 
he  did  say. 

He  tried  to  get  in  by  me  two  or  three 
times,  but  each  time  I  crowded  him  out.  He 
then  took  his  whip  and  gave  me  an  awful 
whipping.  I  do  not  know  to  this  day  why 
he  whipped  me.  He  ought  to  have  known, 
17 


THE  STORY  OF 

when  I  told  him  by  snorting  and  turning  my 
head  toward  that  black  bunch,  he  had  on  his 
arm,  that  I  was  afraid  of  it.  This  whipping 
made  me  so  nervous  that  I  could  not  stand 
still,  and  I  just  had  to  dance  around.  AVlien 
he  started  up  to  my  side  the  next  time,  I  sup- 
pose that  I  stepped  on  his  toe,  in  my  nerv- 
ousness, judging  from  the  way  he  yelled  at 
me  and  the  way  he  walked  when  he  went 
out.  I  thought  he  had  found  out  that  the 
black  bunch  frightened  me  and  had  taken  it 
away,  but  in  a  minute  or  two  he  came  into 
the  room  in  front  of  me.  He  dropped  the 
bunch  and  untied  my  halter  strap  and  drew 
it  up  so  short  that  my  head  was  drawn  close 
to  the  manger.  He  then  brought  that  awful 
black  bunch  and  threw  it  on  my  manger. 
Then  he  jumped  into  the  manger  himself 
and  on  into  my  stall.  I  pulled  and  tugged 
to  get  away  for  he  looked  terrible,  coming 
over  the  manger  like  a  big  dog.  I  tried  to 
crowd  him  out  when  he  got  that  black 
bunch,  but  I  was  tied  so  short  I  could  not. 
18 


"KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

When  he  threw  it  on  me  I  twisted  and 
bowed  my  back  and  pulled  back  and  jumped 
against  the  manger,  but  he  succeeded  in 
fastening  it  on  me.  If  he  had  only  let 
me  touch  it,  as  I  did  one  day  when  he 
hung  it  on  my  manger  and  went  away  to 
do  something  else,  I  know  I  would  not  have 
had  that  fright.  I  never  could  overcome 
the  nervous  shock  of  that  first  harnessing 
and  never  afterwards  could  stand  still  to  be 
harnessed.  After  the  harness  was  fastened 
on  me  a  bridle  was  put  on  my  head  so  I 
could  not  see  on  either  side  or  behind.  A 
piece  of  iron  was  put  into  my  mouth  that 
I  tried  for  a  long  time  to  spit  out.  I  was 
taken  into  the  bam  lot  and  pulled  around  a 
few  times,  first  one  way  and  then  the  other 
After  jerking  me  around  and  saying  many 
things  that  I  did  not  understand,  and  strik- 
ing me  with  the  whip  every  few  steps,  two 
men  held  me,  while  a  couple  more  ran 
something  up  behind  me  and  fastened  it  to 
me.  My  head  was  fastened  up  tight  so  that 
19 


THE  STORY  OP^ 

the  piece  of  iron  hurt  me  worse  than  ever. 

If  I  remember  correctly,  I  went  several 
miles  that  day,  sometimes  with  one  fellow 
walking  by  my  side  holding  the  iron  in  my 
mouth,  and  sometimes  with  both  men  be- 
hind me.  Everything  was  confusion  to  me, 
and  I  do  not  remember  much  that  happened 
or  where  we  went.  When  I  was  put  in  my 
stall  that  night  I  was  tired  and  sore  all 
over.  When  the  excitement  was  over,  I  felt 
for  the  first  time  the  welts  made  by  heavy 
blows  of  the  whip,  and  the  gash  under  my 
tongue  made  by  one  of  the  men  jerking  the 
iron,  while  I  had  my  tongue  over  it  trying 
to  spit  it  out.  Many  blisters  reminded  me 
of  the  harness  rubbing  my  tender  skin.  Out 
of  all  the  confusion  of  that  afternoon  noth- 
ing remained  vividly  in  my  mind  but  that 
bunch  of  harness  and  that  fellow  crawling 
over  the  manger. 

During  all  that  night,  and  for  several 
days,  I  jumped  at  every  little  noise,  fear- 
ing the  approach  of  that  man  with  that 
20 


'KATE"  AND  -QUEEN" 

awful  whip  and  bunch  of  haniess.  I  sup- 
pose the  men  meant  to  teach  me  something, 
but  they  had  me  so  scared  to  begin  with 
and  then  said  so  many  things  that  I  did  not 
understand,  that  I  knew  less  how  to  com- 
prehend man's  wishes  than  I  did  before. 
The  men  were  busy  for  several  days  and  I 
was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  stall. 

I  was  feeling  pretty  good  again,  when 
one  rainy  morning  in  came  that  fellow  with 
that  bunch  of  harness.  My  nerves  just 
went  all  to  pieces.  It  took  some  time  for 
that  fellow  to  get  the  harness  on  me  and 
hitch  me  to  the  rig.  Where  the  harness  had 
rubbed  me  before  was  about  well  again,  so 
I  did  not  mind  the  harness  so  much  this 
time,  but  my  mouth  was  very  sore  and  the 
rein  bothered  me  so  that  it  took  my  whole 
attention  to  that,  and  I  remembered  noth- 
ing else  distinctly.  I  came  in  as  tired  and 
sore  as  before,  disgusted  with  the  whole 
business.  I  tried  my  best  to  understand 
what  was  wanted  of  me,  but  so  much  was 
21 


THE  STORY  OF 

said  and  done  that  I  understood  nothing. 
Many  times  the  driver  thought  I  knew 
what  he  wanted,  when  I  was  only  so  tired 
that  I  did  things  in  a  mechanical  way  and 
did  not  realize  what  I  had  done.  Those  first 
two  drives  were  just  like  several  others.  It 
must  have  been  a  dozen  times  that  I  was 
driven  before  I  really  Imew  that  pressure 
on  the  left  side  of  the  mouth  meant  to  turn 
to  the  right  and  that  pressure  on  the  right 
side  meant  for  me  to  go  to  the  left.  I  re- 
member, too,  how  long  it  took  me  to  learn 
when  to  start  and  when  to  stop  without  the 
driver  using  the  whip  or  lines.  I'll  never 
forget  the  time  I  thought  that  I  had  learned 
that  "Ho"  meant  to  stop.  It  must  have 
been  nearly  a  year  after  they  had  first 
hitched  me  when  Mr.  Lamar  was  driving 
me  at  my  very  best  gait  past  a  neighbor's 
house,  because  he  wanted  this  neighbor  to 
see  my  speed.  As  we  passed  someone  spoke 
to  Mr.  Lamar,  and  he  yelled  ''Hello."  I 
stopped  suddenly,  having  previously  deter- 
22 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

mined  to  stop  before  I  received  a  pull  on 
the  lines,  and  Mr.  Lamar  almost  fell  over 
the  dash.  He  hit  me  a  terrible  cut  with  the 
whip  and  I  then  and  there  determined 
never  to  stop  again,  until  I  received  a  pull 
on  the  lines.  It  was  even  more  confusing 
to  know  when  to  start.  The  hired  man  al- 
ways hit  me  a  lick  and  then  said,  "Get- 
up "  or  "  Go  on, ' '  and  of  course  I  was  think- 
ing about  the  whip  and  not  what  he  said 
afterwards.  Mr.  Lamar  sometimes  said, 
"Go  long,"  sometimes  made  a  clucking 
noise  like  an  old  hen  and  sometimes  a  kiss- 
ing noise  before  he  tapped  me  with  the 
lines  or  whip.  I  do  not  see  why  the  men 
could  not  have  definite  words  for  what  they 
expected  of  me  and  use  some  method  to  get 
me  to  understand  them  more  quickly.  It 
seems  to  me  that  they  could  have  taught  me 
the  use  of  the  bit,  and  when  to  stand  and 
start,  without  having  me  pull  that  heavy- 
cart  or  wagon  at  the  same  time. 

Nothing  worth  relating  happened  for 
23 


THE  STORY  OF 

several  months,  excepting  my  first  experi- 
ence in  being  shod.  Mr.  Lamar  drove  me 
to  town  one  morning  and  hitched  me  in 
front  of  a  black  looking  building,  where 
several  other  horses  were  standing.  Every 
few  minutes  a  horse  would  be  brought  out 
and  another  taken  in.  I  wondered  why  they 
went  in  there  and  what  caused  the  noise.  A 
large,  rough  fellow  soon  unhitched  me  and 
led  me  to  the  door.  I  stopped  to  look  in, 
but  could  not  see  much,  for  it  was  dark  in 
there,  except  one  place  where  there  was  a 
fire  with  sparks  flying  in  all  directions,  and 
from  it  came  a  rumbling  noise  intermingled 
with  a  ringing  sound.  The  place  smelled 
different  from  any  place  I  had  ever 
smelled.  I  feared  to  enter  and  braced  my 
front  feet  when  the  man  pulled  at  my  strap. 
I  had  not  yet  got  my  eyes  accustomed  to 
the  darkness  inside,  when  a  shower  of 
sparks  fell  almost  at  my  feet,  and  at  the 
same  time  something  hit  me  across  the  hips 
with  a  resounding  whack.  I  leaped  for- 
U 


"KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

ward,  only  to  find  that  I  was  securely  tied 
to  the  side  of  the  building.  The  sparks 
from  the  fire  behind  me  flew  in  showers  at 
short  intei-^^als  and  kept  me  trembling  with 
fear  lest  they  would  give  me  another  whack 
across  the  hips. 

A  fellow  set  a  box  behind  me,  then 
grabbed  one  of  my  hind  legs.  No  one  had 
had  hold  of  my  legs  before  and  I  leaped  to 
one  side  to  get  away  from  him,  but  he  stuck 
to  it.  I  swung  him  back  and  forth,  but 
could  not  get  him  loose,  so  I  let  my  whole 
weight  down  on  him.  He  had  to  let  go,  and 
sprang  from  under  me.  It  took  the  fellow 
a  long  time  to  get  me  to  stand  long  enough 
for  him  to  pick  all  my  feet  up  and  cut  them 
fiat  at  ihe  bottom. 

Another  fellow  came  with  some  iron 
pieces,  he  called  shoes,  and  began  to  nail 
them  to  my  feet.  When  he  began  pound- 
ing it  hurt  my  tender  foot,  causing  me  to 
jerk  it  very  quickly.  Somehow  my  foot 
caught  fast  in  his  pants  and  almost  tore 
25 


THE  STORY  OF 

them  off  his  legs.  He  struck  me  with  his 
hammer  and  yelled  so  loud  that  I  snorted 
and  pranced  and  determined  that  he  should 
not  hammer  my  tender  feet,  and  then  pun- 
ish me  because  it  hurt. 

He  struck  me  again,  then  grabbed  my  leg, 
but  I  jerked  away  and  kicked  at  him.  The 
shoe  flew  from  my  foot,  just  missed  his  head 
and  struck  the  side  of  the  building  with 
a  whack.  The  man  then  untied  me,  placed 
a  noose  over  the  tender  part  of  my  nose, 
placed  a  stick  through  it,  and  twisted  it  up 
tight.  I  think  they  called  this  a  twitch. 
They  jerked  it  several  times  and  made  my 
nose  sting.  I  suppose  that  it  hurt  me  so 
that  I  did  not  notice  the  man  lift  my  leg 
and  hammer  my  foot.  The  man  holding  the 
twitch,  thinking  I  had  given  up,  loosened 
it  and  the  pain  ceased.  I  saw  the  fellow 
holding  my  foot  and  felt  the  jars  of  the 
hammer.  I  gave  a  quick  leap  forward, 
jerking  my  foot  free  and  upsetting  the 
blacksmith.  I  made  several  leaps  and 
26 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

kicks,  causing  a  horse  at  my  side  to  break 
loose  and  creating  a  panic  among  three  or 
four  men  who  fell  backward  from  their 
kegs  and  boxes. 

The  man  in  front  recovered  his  rope 
again  and  I  felt  its  painful  jerks  on  my 
nose.  He  also  pinched  my  ear  with  a  pair 
of  tongs.  Again  the  blacksmith  hit  me  a 
terrific  blow  with  his  hammer  and  seized 
my  foot.  I  resented  it  with  as  hard  a  kick 
as.  possible  at  such  close  range  and  sent 
him  sprawling  on  a  heap  of  scrap  iron.  The 
pain  on  my  nose  and  ear  became  so  terrible 
that  I  did  not  know  what  was  done  with  my 
feet  or  who  shod  me.  When  I  left  the  shop 
I  had  four  new  iron  shoes  on,  my  nose  was 
tingling  with  pain,  and  my  ear  felt  like  it 
was  almost  pulled  out.  Mr.  Lamar  re- 
turned from  his  business  up  town  while  the 
men  were  hitching  me  up.  I  think  a  black- 
smith shop  is  one  of  the  worst  places  there 
is  for  horses.  It  makes  me  shudder  yet  to 
think  of  them  and  the  hard  fights  I  have 
27 


THE  STORY  OF 

had  in  them. 

Mr.  Lamar  continued  to  drive  me  most 
of  the  time.  He  considered  me  well  broke, 
but  I  hardly  know  just  what  that  means, 
for  I  could  understand  but  little  of  what 
was  expected  of  me  and,  since  Mr.  Lamar 
was  a  very  quiet  sort  of  a  fellow,  I  really 
went  along  to  suit  myself.  I  was  develop- 
ing a  great  deal  of  speed,  and,  being  consid- 
ered a  good  family  horse,  usually  took  the 
family  in  the  beautiful  carriage  for  their 
evening  drives  over  to  the  city.  I  was  then 
in  the  prime  of  my  life  and  would  have  been 
one  of  the  happiest  horses  alive,  if  I  could 
have  felt  that  there  was  a  complete  under- 
standing between  me  and  my  driver. 

I  believe  it  was  the  summer  that  I  was 
six  years  old  (here  old  Kate  gave  a  vicious 
kick  and  snapped  her  teeth  so  fiercely  that 
it  startled  Queen,  who  bad  been  intensely 
interested  in  her  mother's  stoiy)  that  Bill 
Temper  came  to  work  for  Mr.  Lamar.  He 
was  always  in  a  hurry,  and  if  things  did 
28 


'*KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

not  go  to  suit  him  always  flew  into  a 
passion.  I  often  wonder  why  Mr.  Lamar 
kept  him,  for  he  was  so  reckless  in  his  speed 
that  he  was  always  getting  into  trouble. 
Somehow  I  took  a  dislike  to  him  the  first 
morning  he  came  into  the  stable.  He  came 
in  a  flurry  that  made  us  all  feel  uneasy. 
When  he  came  to  clean  my  stall,  the  first 
thing  he  did  was  to  prod  my  sensitive  legs 
with  the  fork  and  afterwards  yell,  "Get 
over."  I  involuntarily  bounced  with  my 
hind  leg?  and  scringed  every  time  the  fork 
came  about  me  for  fear  I  would  get  struck 
again.  He  came  in,  a  few  moments  later, 
roughly  threw  the  harness  on  me  and 
hitched  me  to  the  spring  wagon.  He  was 
hardly  seated  in  the  wagon  until  he  hit  me 
a  cut  with  the  whip  and  yelled  crossly, ' '  Go 
long. ' '  I  didn  't  lose  much  time  in  starting, 
I  tell  you,  and  took  him  a  pretty  good  clip. 
I  do  not  know  whether  my  gait  pleased 
him  or  not,  for  every  little  bit  he  would 
speak  roughly  to  me,  which  kept  me  un- 
29 


THE  STORY  OF 

nerved  all  the  time.  Bill  taught  me  that 
morning  how  to  get  around  objects  that 
frightened  me.  Down  by  old  Mr.  Johnson 's 
woods  lay  a  black  log  that  I  had  always 
been  afraid  of.  I  always  watched  that  log 
when  I  went  by  and  usually  snorted  to  chase 
away  any  beast  that  might  be  behind  it,  for 
I  once  saw  the  weeds  shaken  by  something 
hidden  there.  Mr.  Lamar  had  always  let  me 
take  my  time  in  going  by  so  I  could  watch  it 
better.  When  I  stopped  to  walk  by  that 
spot  that  morning  with  Bill,  he  hit  toe  a  cut 
with  the  whip  just  as  I  thought  I  saw  the 
weeds  move  again.  Of  course,  I  thought 
something  by  that  log  had  hit  me,  and  I 
circled  around  it  as  fast  as  I  could  go. 
When  we  came  back  that  way,  Bill  was 
afraid  to  pass  there,  too,  for  he  began  jerk- 
ing the  lines  nervously  and  whipped  me 
when  we  were  past  the  place,  so  we  could 
get  away  quicker.  I  kept  away  as  far  as  I 
could  by  going  into  the  side  ditch.  A  little 
further  down  the  road  there  was  something 
30 


"KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

hanging  on  a  weed  just  off  the  side  of  the 
road.  I  thought  it  was  only  a  piece  of  pa- 
per, but  being  somewhat  nervous  yet,  I 
watched  it  pretty  closely.  Just  as  I  had 
about  decided  it  was  a  piece  of  paper,  it 
moved  and  something  hit  me.  I  again  went 
around  by  the  side  ditch,  as  far  away  as  I 
could. 

I  came  home  from  that  trip  very  much 
worried,  for  I  had  trotted  fast  with  the  old 
spring  wagon.  The  excitement  caused  by 
our  two  frights  and  Bill  Temper's  irritable 
manner,  left  me  very  nervous.  I  did  not 
enjoy  my  supper  very  much  that  night,  and 
had  hardly  finished  when  Bill  came  in  with 
the  fork  to  fix  my  bedding.  Either  care- 
lessly, or  purposely,  that  fork  struck  me 
again,  and  being  nervous  anyway  and 
afraid  of  it,  I  kicked  it  as  hard  as  I  could. 
I  do  not  know  whether  forks  bite  or  not, 
but  when  I  kicked,  two  prongs  of  that  fork 
fastened  to  each  side  of  my  pastern,  and 
how  I  did  kick  to  get  it  loose.  I  remem- 
31 


THE  STOEY  OF 

ber  how  the  boards  of  my  stall  broke 
and  flew  in  all  directions.  Bill  was  mixed 
up  in  it,  too,  for  he  had  hold  of  the  fork 
part  of  the  time,  and  I  kicked  him  too.  I 
really  think  he  wanted  it  to  hurt  me,  at 
least  he  had  it  in  his  hand  when  I 
finally  kicked  it  loose.  After  that  Bill  al- 
ways put  me  in  another  stall  to  clean  mine, 
for  I  never  after  allowed  a  fork  about.  I 
made  things  so  lively  that  the  men  kept 
them  away.  Mr.  Lamar  was  gone  for  sev- 
eral weeks  that  summer  and  Bill  drove  me 
very  frequently.  In  fact,  I  think  he  made 
some  very  weak  excuses,  sometimes,  merely 
to  get  me  out  for  a  drive. 

I  learned  several  things  of  Bill.  He  so 
thoroughly  drilled  me  in  hurrying  around 
objects  that  frightened  me,  that  I  circled 
around  everything  in  which  there  was  the 
least  possibility  of  danger,  and  it  became 
such  a  habit  that  I  did  it  sometimes  when 
there  was  really  nothing  to  be  frightened 
at.  He  taught  me  to  start  as  soon  as  I 
32 


*'KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

heard  his  foot  on  the  buggy  step.  Another 
thing  that  was  vividly  impressed  on  my 
mind  was  that  I  should  never  allow  any 
horse  to  go  around  me.  It  took  many  a  race 
for  me  to  learn  that  point,  but  Bill  never 
let  any  opportunity  pass  by  without  giving 
me  some  practice. 

Nearly  all  the  horses  in  the  community 
soon  learned  that  it  was  no  use  to  try  to 
pass  me,  and  did  not  often  attempt  it.  There 
were  two  or  three  from  the  city  I  often  saw 
on  the  road  that  gave  me  the  fastest  races 
we  had.  One,  especially,  gave  me  many  a 
race  before  I  felt  confident  of  being  able  to 
keep  ahead  of  any  horse  on  the  road.  This 
little  gray  I  could  always  tell  as  far  as  I 
could  hear  her,  by  a  peculiar  pat  of  her 
feet.  Whenever  I  heard  her  coming,  I  went 
my  best  to  keep  ahead. 

One  morning  the  latter  part  of  the  sum- 
mer I  heard  the  familiar  voice  of  Mr.  La- 
mar again.  He  came  into  the  barn  and 
came  in  my  stall,  saying  something  about 
33 


THE  STORY  OF 

me  not  being  as  fat  as  usual.  He  left  the 
barn  and  returned  again  in  a  few  minutes 
with  a  new  set  of  harness,  which  he  pro- 
ceeded to  fit  to  me  and  took  me  out  and 
hitched  me  to  the  carriage.  He  seemed 
very  proud  of  his  harness,  and  placed  spe- 
cial emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  it  had 
the  latest  style  shaft  band.  I  noticed  when 
he  fastened  it  that  he  wrapped  it  two  or 
three  times  around  the  shafts  just  as  if  he 
feared  the  shafts  might  fly  up  and  hurt 
somebody.  He  took  the  whole  family  for  a 
drive  that  day.  Whenever  one  of  them 
stepped  on  the  step  I  started  quickly,  and 
each  time  received  a  jerk  from  Mr.  Lamar. 
I  couldn't  understand  why  I  should  not 
start,  when  Bill  had  taught  me  that  a  foot 
on  the  step  meant  to  go.  We  finally  got 
started,  after  I  had  reared  a  time  or  two, 
with  everybody  scolding  about  their  hats 
being  knocked  awry,  and  me  considerably 
irritated,  because  I  had  been  fooled  so 
often. 

34 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

I  took  them  down  the  road  at  a  pretty 
good  gait,  dodging  from  one  side  of  the 
road  to  the  other,  as  it  seemed  necessary  in 
order  to  avoid  all  suspicious-looking  ob- 
jects. It  surprised  Mr.  Lamar  somewhat, 
when  I  went  very  fast  by  the  log  and 
around  by  the  side  ditch.  He  said  some- 
thing about  me  getting  more  afraid  rather 
than  getting  used  to  the  log ;  I  did  my  best 
to  show  him  that  it  was  best,  as  Bill  had 
taught  me,  to  hurry  around  suspicious  ob- 
jects, but  he  did  not  seem  to  understand  me. 
Two  or  three  times  the  women  screamed  as 
I  crowded  over  to  the  other  side  of  the  road 
away  from  something,  and  nearly  collided 
with  a  buggy,  and  once  or  twice  almost 
missed  the  end  of  some  culvert. 

Just  as  we  left  the  city  that  evening,  I 
heard  the  familiar  sound  of  that  gray  horse 
coming  up  behind  me.  I  was  determined 
that,  although  it  was  hitched  to  a  light  rig 
and  me  to  a  heavy  carriage,  it  should  not 
pass  me. 

35 


THE  STORY  OF 

The  gray  attempted  to  get  around  me  by 
a  quick  dash,  but  I  was  watching  for  that, 
and  away  we  went.  A  man  ahead  saw  us 
coming  and  turned  into  the  side  ditch  to  let 
us  pass.  Chickens  flew  from  the  road  as  we 
dashed  by  the  farm  houses ;  children  scam- 
pered from  the  dust  and  watched  us  from 
gate  posts  as  we  raced  by.  The  women 
screamed  as  we  dashed  past  a  load  of  hay, 
for  the  carriage  top  rubbed  the  hay  and  the 
outer  wheels  were  in  the  ditch;  but  that 
gray  must  not  pass.  We  had  not  gone  more 
than  half  a  mile  until  that  gray  was  far  be- 
hind. Just  as  we  were  about  to  turn  into 
the  lane  at  home,  a  horse  and  a  buggy  came 
out,  which,  I  thought,  intended  to  go  around 
us,  and  I  went  into  the  lane  so  fast  that  the 
hind  wheels  slid,  making  the  women  scream 
again.  I  had  hoped  to  please  Mr.  Lamar, 
after  he  had  been  gone  so  long,  and,  so  had 
done  my  best.  I  think  though  that  he  was 
not  very  well  pleased  with  me,  for  his  voice 
to  the  men  seemed  gruff,  while  he  said 
36 


"KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

a  great  deal  about  "shyer,"  "tough- 
mouthed,"  "not  safe  for  the  family," 
"wouldn't  stand,"  and  many  other  things 
that  I  did  not  understand. 

The  next  morning  Bill  and  Mr,  Lamar 
came  in  and  examined  the  bit  of  my  bridle. 
Bill  said  something  about  "hacking  it  with 
a  hatchet,"  and  Mr.  Lamar  talked  about  a 
"Jaw  Breaker."  Bill  hitched  me  to  the 
buggy  and  we  went  to  town  and  stopped  be- 
fore a  harness  store.  Bill  brought  out  a 
large  bright  object  with  a  chain  across  it, 
which,  I  suppose,  was  a  bit.  Bill  slipped  my 
bridle  off  to  buckle  the  bit  on.  For  the  first 
time  in  my  life,  I  saw  the  buggy  to  which  I 
was  hitched.  It  looked  so  much  different 
straight  behind  me,  than  it  did  off  to  one 
side  or  when  another  horse  was  hitched  to 
it,  that  I  became  terribly  frightened.  No 
sooner  had  the  bridle  been  slipped  off  than 
I  leaped  forward.  Bill  grabbed  the  end  of 
the  shaft  and  my  mane  and  ran  along  with 
me  for  quite  a  distance,  but  could  not  keep 
37 


THE  STOEY  OF 

up.  The  front  wheel  struck  him  and 
knocked  him  down.  Men  ran  out  from  side 
streets,  stores  and  alleys,  and  ran  directly 
toward  me,  frightening  me  more  and  more, 
and,  as  I  circled  around  them,  my  buggy 
caught  the  wheels  of  others  and  upset  them. 
I  can  not  describe  to  you  all  the  noises 
and  terrible  sights  I  saw  there  in  a  few  min- 
utes; buggies  upset,  horses  running,  men 
yelling  and  all  the  time  that  frightful  buggy 
right  behind  me.  I  had  never  seen  objects 
in  the  city  except  directly  in  front  of  me, 
and  now,  with  no  bridle  on,  everything  was 
frightful  all  around  me.  How  I  did  run  to 
get  out  of  that  awful  place.  It  is  an  experi- 
ence that  will  stay  with  me  as  long  as  I  live. 
I  believe  I  was  almost  insane.  At  the  first 
corner  the  buggy  upset  and  frightened  me 
all  the  more.  There  was  a  loud  crash  and 
the  top  was  left  in  the  street.  Something 
cut  my  heels  that  reminded  me  of  the  prods 
of  the  fork  and  how  I  kicked!  I  thought 
every  moment  that  I  would  be  killed,  and 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

so  I  kicked  my  best  to  get  it  away  from  me. 
The  pieces  flew  thick  and  fast.  The  last 
wheel  caught  in  a  truck  wagon  and  I  left  it 
there.  I  did  not  go  far  beyond  that  until 
the  harness  became  entangled  in  my  feet 
and  threw  me  so  I  could  not  get  up.  A  man 
came  from  a  livery  stable  near  by,  with  a 
bridle,  and  led  me  into  a  stall 

BUI  soon  came  up,  hatless  and  breath- 
less, with  blood  streaming  from  his  nose 
and  a  gash  in  his  face  where  the  wheel  had 
struck  him.  They  took  the  new  harness 
and  got  it  mended  and  brought  my 
bridle  with  the  "jaw  breaker"  and  hitched 
me  to  a  buggy  from  the  livery  stable.  I  felt 
like  getting  away  from  something  all  the 
way  home.  My  heels  were  badly  cut  by  the 
buggy  in  the  running,  and  that ' '  jaw  break- 
er" was  the  most  maddening  thing  I  ever 
had  on.  It  filled  my  mouth  full  and  cut  the 
tender  skin  of  my  jaw.  My  mouth  was  soon 
so  numb  that  I  could  hardly  feel  a  pull  on 
the  lines.  That  bit  and  set  of  harness  made 
39 


THE  STORY  OF 

my  torture  complete.  I  could  not  under- 
stand why  Mr.  Lamar  could  be  induced  to 
buy  such  a  set.  When  we  went  down  hill 
the  shafts  would  not  slip  forward  in  the 
shaft  holders,  and  the  whole  load  pushed 
forward  on  my  back.  By  the  time  we 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  hill  the  shafts 
had  worked  enough  forward  to  cause  me  to 
pull  all  the  load  with  the  back  band.  Even 
on  smooth  roads  the  continual  backward 
and  forward  motion  of  the  shafts  was  very 
irritating.  As  I  think  back  over  the  torture 
of  that  drive  home,  I  wonder  how  I  stood 
it.  I  went  as  fast  as  I  could  to  get  home  in 
the  quiet  stall,  and  Bill  and  I  both  felt  con- 
siderably relieved  when  we  got  there. 

I  did  not  rest  well  that  night.  My 
mouth  hurt.  My  back  was  rubbed  raw,  and 
a  big  raw  spot  on  each  side,  back  of  my 
front  legs,  made  by  the  shaft  band;  my 
crupper  had  rubbed  the  hide  off  entirely 
around  my  tail,  caused,  I  tKlnk,  by  being 
reined  so  tight,  and  the  shaft  band  jerking 
40 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

back  and  forth.  All  these,  with  my  sore 
heels,  made  me  spend  a  miserable  night. 
By  the  next  morning,  the  sting  had  left  the 
sore  spots,  but  there  remained  a  dull  sore- 
ness that  is  hard  to  describe,  that  made  me 
feel  miserable.  The  nervous  shock  of  the 
day  before  also  added  to  my  misery.  I  had 
just  finished  my  morning  meal  and  had 
settled  back  for  a  day's  rest,  when  Bill 
came  in  with  the  harness.  He  threw  it 
heavily  over  my  back.  I  bowed  my  back 
and  twisted  around  and  stamped  my  feet  to 
tell  him  the  best  I  could  that  they  hurt  me. 
But  he  just  scolded  me  and  began  to  draw 
the  girth  up  tighter.  I  couldn't  stand  it 
any  longer,  and  I  just  reached  around  while 
he  was  stooping  over,  and  bit  him  pretty 
hard  about  the  bottom  of  the  coat  tail.  Bill 
jumped  and  screamed  so  loud  that  I  was 
afraid  I  had  killed  him,  but  I  didn't  care 
much. 

I  had  done  my  best  to  let  him  know  the 
harness  hurt  me,  but  he  paid  no  attention 
41 


THE  STORY  OF 

until  I  bit  him.  I  always  used  my  teeth 
after  that,  as  that  seemed  one  of  the  best 
ways  to  make  a  man  understand  what  I 
wanted.  A  few  seconds  after  I  bit  Bill,  the 
bridle  flew  into  my  face  and  hit  me  several 
blows  over  the  head.  I  never  liked  to  see 
the  bridle  coming  toward  me  after  that  and 
always  kept  my  head  as  far  away  as  pos- 
sible. Bill  next  stepped  back  and  jerked 
my  sore  tail  up  so  high  and  jerked  the 
crupper  under  it  so  roughly  that  it  almost 
set  my  teeth  on  edge  with  pain.  It  made 
me  so  mad  to  think  a  man  had  no  more 
sense,  that  I  gave  him  a  side  wiper  tbat 
sent  him  back  against  the  barn  all  in  a  heap. 
He  was  so  far  back  that  I  couldn't  reach 
him,  but  in  my  mad  excitement,  I  kicked 
anyway.  Bill  soon  regained  his  breath  and 
that  dreaded  fork  handle  began  to  strike 
me  from  behind  the  partition  of  my  stall. 
Then  I  kicked  with  all  the  power  of  my 
strength.  My  earlier  experience  with  the 
fork  and  the  experience  of  the  day  before 
42 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN'' 

seemed  to  roll  in  upon  me.  The  harness 
fell  off  of  me  and  was  sent  flying  to  the 
rear  of  my  stall.  The  splinters  flew  from  the 
side  of  my  stall,  and  I  felt  able  to  kick  the 
barn  to  pieces.  When  it  ended,  Mr.  Lamar 
and  two  or  three  other  men  were  there. 
They  said  something  about  not  letting  me 
whip  them  out,  and,  after  looking  in  the 
stable  door  at  my  rear  a  few  times,  they 
seemed  to  be  afraid  to  come  up  behind  me. 
One  of  the  men  entered  the  feed  room 
with  the  harness  on  his  arm  and  started  to 
climb  over  the  manger.  It  reminded  me  of 
the  man  scaring  me  so  badly  the  first  time  I 
was  harnessed,  that  I  lost  control  of  my- 
self, and  threw  my  whole  weight  back  on 
my  halter  strap.  A  board  of  my  manger 
split  off  and  let  me  fall  backwards  near  the 
door.  I  leaped  out  of  the  bam  with  the 
board  hanging  to  me.  I  was  so  frightened 
that  I  did  not  feel  the  many  deep  cuts  and 
gashes  that  board  gave  me  as  I  ran.  I  tried 
hard  to  get  away  from  it,  but  I  could  not. 
43 


THE  STORY  OF 

Finally  it  struck  me  a  cruel  blow  as  I  ran 
into  a  corner  of  the  barn  yard.  It  pene- 
trated my  breast  and  knocked  me  down.  As 
the  men  ran  up  some  said  it  would  kill  me, 
and  I  thought  so  myself  when  they  pulled  it 
out  and  helped  me  into  a  large  box  stall. 

I  lay  in  the  stall  several  weeks  before  I 
finally  became  able  to  get  on  my  feet.  I 
was  unable  to  be  hitched  up  all  that  winter. 
The  men  were  so  rough  in  handling  me, 
being  so  sore  all  over,  as  I  was,  that  I  bit 
and  kicked  as  soon  as  I  could  do  so.  Con- 
sequently, I  did  not  get  very  good  care,  but 
being  of  a  vigorous  constitution,  my 
wounds  all  healed  by  spring. 

One  nice  day  that  spring  Mr.  Lamar 
came  into  the  barn  and  said  several  things 
to  Bill,  in  which  I  recognized  the  words, 
''Kate  needs  exercise,"  and  ''She  has  for- 
gotten her  bad  experiences."  Pretty  soon 
Bill  came  in  with  the  harness,  but  I  soon 
made  him  get  out  with  it,  for  somehow 
it  scared  me  and  made  my  back  hurt  to 
44 


'^KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

look  at  them.  I  was  led  out  in  the  yard  and 
harnessed,  for  it  did  not  look  so  fright- 
ful there,  where  there  was  plenty  of  room. 
They  had  the  "jaw  breaker"  bit  on,  and 
when  going  over,  Mr.  Lamar  said  some- 
thing about  me  being  a  "lugger"  yet.  I  do 
not  know  what  a  "lugger"  is,  but  I  sup- 
pose it  is  all  right.  I  felt  good,  being  the 
first  time  I  had  been  out,  and  the  day  being 
so  beautiful,  I  took  them  a  lively  drive.  I 
dodged  around  everything  that  was  un- 
familiar and  went  farther  away  from  them 
than  before,  because  of  the  recollection  of 
former  pain.  Each  time  I  circled  around, 
something  struck  me.  It  may  have  been 
Bill's  whip,  but  since  my  whole  attention 
was  on  the  object,  I  think  it  was  the  object 
that  struck  me.  Away  we  went  down  the 
main  street.  I  saw  the  steam  cars  and  a 
street  car  at  a  distance.  I  never  saw  one 
close,  for  Bill  and  Mr.  Lamar  were  so 
afraid  of  them  that  they  stopped  a  square 
away  from  the  steam  cars  and  always  had 
45 


THE  STORY  OF 

me  hurry  up  a  side  street  when  they  saw  a 
street  car  coming. 

Bill  and  Mr.  Lamar  tied  me  by  the  gro- 
cery, and  had  just  stepped  inside  when  a 
woman  came  along  with  an  umbrella,  and 
raised  it  directly  in  front  of  me.  The  man 
on  the  manger  flashed  immediately  through 
my  senses,  and  I  squared  myself  and  gave 
a  mighty  pull.  The  rope  with  which  I  was 
tied  snapped  easily,  and  I  started  down  the 
street. 

The  first  jump  or  two  brought  back  all 
the  feelings  of  my  previous  runaway.  I 
felt  ungoverned  again  and  knew  my  power 
to  get  away  from  the  rig.  I  was  just  about 
to  kick  everything  loose  as  I  ran,  when  a 
man  seized  my  bit,  threw  his  weight  against 
my  shoulder  and  pulled  my  head  sidewise 
so  that  I  had  to  stop.  I  had  dodged  the  men 
who  had  run  straight  out  after  me,  but  this 
man  was  running  from  me  and  grabbed  me 
as  I  went  by.  I  believe  he  knew  something 
about  horses,  for  he  seemed  to  know  just 
46 


"KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

how  I  felt  and  soothed  my  nerves  consider- 
ably by  a  few  strokes  with  his  hand  on  my 
neck.  Mr.  Lamar  and  Bill  soon  came  np 
and  gave  the  fellow  a  round,  bright  piece, 
unsnapped  the  rope  from  my  neck  and 
drove  oif . 

I  was  jnst  going  aronnd  the  corner,  Bill 
letting  me  go  pretty  fast,  when  I  almost 
ran  into  the  queerest  looking  thing  I  ever 
saw.  As  near  as  I  can  remember,  it  looked 
like  a  low  buggy,  but  sounded  like  a  steam 
engine.  There  were  some  hideous  looking 
objects  inside  with  large  eyes.  Altogether 
it  was  the  most  horrid  looking  object  I  ever 
saw.  Bill  suggested  what  to  do,  by  pulling 
on  one  line  and  hitting  me  a  cut  with  the 
whip.  I  was  too  close  to  circle  around,  so 
I  reared  and  gave  a  forward  leap.  I  was  so 
frightened  that  I  didn't  know,  nor  care, 
where  I  leaped.  I  came  down  on  something 
that  crashed  and  tore,  and  directly  beneath 
me  was  that  hideous  machine.  I  leaped  out 
somehow  and  the  buggy  and  the  machine 
47 


THE  STORY  OF 

were  all  in  a  heap.  The  buggy  stuck  to  me 
and  lit  on  the  four  wheels  with  Bill  still  in, 
and  if  ever  the  people  in  that  town  saw  run- 
ning, they  saw  it  that  day.  The  buggy 
swayed  from  one  side  of  the  street  to  the 
other.  That,  with  Bill's  yells,  made  me 
frantic.  People  ran  and  screamed.  Bug- 
gies disappeared  around  corners.  Houses 
seemed  to  be  flying  away  from  me  as  I 
passed  by. 

Thus  block  after  block  I  ran,  when  some 
one  rushed  out  from  a  side  street.  I 
swayed  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 
The  hub  caught  on  a  hitching  post,  the 
buggy  stopped  suddenly,  pitching  Bill  high 
in  the  air  over  a  yard  fence  and  head  fore- 
most into  a  flower  bed.  I  was  headed  to- 
ward home,  and  made  quick  time  in  getting 
there.  I  was  so  badly  bruised  that  I  was 
again  in  the  box  stall  several  days. 

Mr.  Lamar  came  into  the  stable  one  day 
and  heaved  a  sigh  as  he  leaned  against  the 
manger.  He  muttered  something  about 
48 


"KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

"None  better  bred  in  the  country,"  and 
"Pretty  as  a  picture."  I  think  he  meant 
me,  for  he  looked  at  me  all  the  time  he 
talked.  He  said  something  more  about 
"Counting  on  her  for  a  family  horse."  I 
think  he  was  very  much  discouraged  about 
something,  judging  from  his  dejected  ap- 
pearance. 

A  few  days  later,  as  I  watched  the  men 
hauling  some  stone  off  the  field,  one  of  the 
horses  began  to  paw,  and  finally  lay  down. 
I  watched  the  men  work  with  it  for  several 
minutes,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  sick.  I  often  stood  for  hours  with  my 
head  out  of  my  little  door  and  watched  the 
men  and  horses  at  work.  I  often  wished  I 
could  be  out  with  them  instead  of  being 
kept  in  my  stall  so  long.  After  a  while  the 
men  got  the  horse  up  and  unhitched  it.  One 
of  them  got  on  it  and  run  it  up  and  down 
the  field  several  times  as  hard  as  he  could 
make  it  go.  I  did  not  think  it  was  very 
good  for  a  sick  horse,  but  it  is  hard  to  un- 
49 


THE  STORY  OF 

derstand  men's  ways,  and  he  might  have 
been  hunting  for  something.  The  horse 
was  brought  to  the  stable  and  placed  in  a 
large  stall  by  the  side  of  mine.  Mr.  Lamar 
started  to  town  for  a  horse  doctor  and  told 
the  men  to  ''Put  Kate  to  work  if  you  can 
work  her," 

One  large  fellow  whom  they  called 
Pete,  replied  that  he  could  work  any- 
thing with  four  feet.  I  was  taken  out  of  the 
barn  and  harnessed,  and  hitched  to  the 
wagon  with  the  load  of  stone.  Pete  took 
the  lines  and  cracked  his  whip,  and  I  leaped 
forward.  I  struck  my  shoulders  against 
something  hard,  and  Old  Joe,  the  other 
horse,  nearly  fell  backwards.  Pete  began 
lashing  me  with  the  whip.  I  leaped  and 
plunged  to  get  away  from  there,  but  every 
time  I  went  forward  I  hurt  my  shoulders 
and  Old  Joe  went  backwards.  I  got  so  be- 
wildered that  I  just  stood  and  pranced  and 
broke  out  in  a  cold  sweat  all  over.  Pete 
came  and  patted  me  on  the  neck,  and  left  us 
50 


^'KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

stand  awhile.  He  tried  again,  but  Old  Joe 
would  not  start  at  all  when  I  did,  and  my 
shoulders  were  getting  so  sore  I  didn't  go 
forward  very  hard,  but  mostly  sideways. 
Pete  came  and  patted  me  again  and  un- 
loaded nearly  all  the  stone.  He  took  the 
lines  again,  and  again  I  started  forward 
and  nearly  pulled  Old  Joe  and  the  wagon. 
I  never  got  such  a  licking  in  my  life  as  I 
got  from  Pete  after  the  wagon  started.  He 
drove  around  in  a  circle  lashing  me  every 
step.  The  end  of  the  lash  cut  my  hide  open 
in  different  places,  and  the  hissing  of  the 
whip  as  it  cut  through  the  air,  hurt  me  al- 
most as  bad  as  the  blow.  I  reared  and 
plunged  to  go  faster,  but  Old  Joe  would  not 
get  in  the  notion.  We  circled  around  by  the 
stones  and  they  were  loaded  again.  I  stood 
and  pranced  and  sweat.  My  whole  body 
ached  and  shook.  Pete  came  and  stroked 
my  neck  and  said  something,  and  Old  Joe 
started.  I  remembered  the  terrible  licking 
because  I  started  the  other  time,  so  I  stood 
51 


THE  STORY  OF 

prancing  and  snorting. 

Pete  tried  several  times  to  fool  me  into 
starting,  but  I  knew  better  after  he  had 
petted  me  for  standing  and  thrashed  me 
for  going.  They  unloaded  the  stones  again, 
but  I  was  so  mad  by  this  time  with 
those  men  fooling  around  that  I  just  stood 
and  kicked.  After  an  hour  or  two,  Pete 
unliitched  Old  Joe  and  hitched  him  to  my 
mouth  with  a  chain  around  my  lower 
jaw.  I  leaped  and  plunged  in  every  di- 
rection to  free  myself  from  that  chain.  I 
thought  I  had  endured  every  torture  that 
could  be  heaped  upon  a  horse,  but  that  was 
the  worst  of  all.  I  believe  that  I  would 
have  jerked  my  jaw  off  to  free  myself,  had 
not  the  hook  slipped  off  the  link  and  let  me 
free.  I  soon  stripped  myself  of  the  har- 
ness and  ran  into  my  stall. 

That  was  the  last  time  I  ever  had  the 

harness    on.     I   was    turned    out    in    the 

pasture  for  a  brood  mare.    You  are  my 

only  offspring,  Queen,  and  have  the  same 

52 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

lithe  form  and  high  ambition  I  once  had. 
You  must  understand  the  language  of  men 
or  you  could  not  be  so  happy.  I  always  did 
my  best  to  understand  their  meaning,  but 
could  never  get  a  clew  to  their  language. 
That  is  the  reason  I  suffer  with  my  aching 
muscles,  uncared  for  and  considered  an 
outlaw  by  man.  Because  I  developed  a 
quick  temper  in  protecting  myself,  and  bear 
the  ugly  scars  of  my  battles  for  life,  I  am 
rejected  even  by  my  own  kind. ' ' 

Here  ' '  Old  Kate ' '  gave  a  kick  of  resent- 
ment that  aroused  all  the  horses  dozing  in 
their  stalls.  Not  Imowing  the  surging  emo- 
tions back  of  Old  Kate's  action,  all  con- 
demned her  for  continually  disturbing  the 
peace  of  the  stable,  except  "Queen,"  and 
she  gave  a  whinny  of  sympathy  that 
soothed  Kate's  overwrought  nerves.  Upon 
the  promise  of  Queen  to  explain  her  con- 
tentment and  peaceable  disposition,  in  spite 
of  her  natural  nervousness,  Kate  dropped 
her  head  in  sleep  and  the  stables  were 
53 


THE  STOEY  OF 

clothed  in  silence  except  for  tlie  rhythmical 
breathing  of  the  horses. 


54 


''QUEEN" 


"Queen's    Autobiography" 


The  evening  following  "Old  Kate's" 
confession  she  ate  her  meal  vdth  greater 
alacrity  than  usual,  for  she  had  not  forgot- 
ten that  this  was  the  evening  her  daughter, 
Queen,  was  to  tell  her  the  story  of  her  life. 
Since  Queen  was  two  years  old  their  lives 
had  gradually  diverged  until  it  seemed  that 
an  impassable  gulf  had  come  between  them. 
Now  that  she  had  told  her  story,  the  best 
she  could,  and  Queen  had  promised  to  tell 
her  experiences,  visions  of  an  unknown  life, 
full  of  harmony  and  peace,  seemed  about  to 
open  to  her  starved  existence,  and  she  was 
anxious  that  Queen  should  begin. 

Queen  had  scarcely  begun  when  a  nose 
appeared  in  front  of  the  adjoining  stall,  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  the  horse  to  the 
left.  Noses  kept  appearing  thus  in  each 
stall,  alternately,  until  the  attention  of  the 
last  horse  was  attracted.  Queen  had  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  every  horse  in  the 
57 


THE  STORY  OF 

stable.  She  was  so  beautiful  and  her  man- 
ners so  perfect,  that  all  felt  that  Queen  was 
the  ideal  to  be  sought  by  the  horse  king- 
dom. If  there  was  any  uproar  in  the 
stables,  it  never  proceeded  from  Queen's 
stall.  If  there  was  trouble  between  the  men 
and  some  of  the  horses.  Queen  was  never 
one  of  the  horses.  Her  understanding  of 
man's  ways  and  language  was  so  acute, 
that,  to  the  horses,  she  seemed  often  to  an- 
ticipate even  men's  wishes.  So  marvelous 
was  her  understanding  that  the  horses 
could  not  help  but  notice  that  even  the  men 
acknowledged  her  superiority  by  always 
speaking  to  her  in  a  low,  kind  tone.  In  fact 
it  seemed  that  with  the  coming  of  Queen  a 
new  spirit  had  taken  possession  of  the 
stables. 

Roy  Lamar,  Mr.  Lamar's  son,  had  be- 
come the  dominating  character  of  the 
stables  when  Queen  came  in,  and  with  his 
advent.  Bill  Temper  and  Pete  had  disap- 
peared and  more  humane  and  thoughtful 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

fellows  had  taken  their  places.  Of  course  it 
was  natural  for  the  horses,  in  their  simple 
way,  to  attribute  all  these  changes  to  the 
beautiful  disposition  of  Queen.  Therefore, 
when  word  was  passed  along  that  Queen 
had  something  to  say,  all  listened  attentive- 
ly. You  would  have  been  really  interested 
if  you  could  have  seen  and  heard  the  grace- 
ful Queen  tell  her  story  of  knowledge 
gained  and  ambitions  attained.  It  was  a 
story  of  conquests  and  triumphs  that  I 
gathered  from  the  dainty  tosses  of  the 
head,  the  sparkle  of  ambitious  eyes  and  the 
triumphant  arch  of  the  neck.  It  was  a 
language  of  harmonious  action,  that  most 
men  call  signs,  but  which  is  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  of  languages  when  understood. 
Queen  began  speaking  mostly  to  her  moth- 
er, but  understood  by  nearly  all  the  horses 
in  the  stable. 

"The  first  two  years  of  my  life  you 
know  very  well,  mother,  for  we  spent  those 
happy  days  together.    It  was  a  life  of  free- 
59 


THE  STORY  OF 

dom  spent  in  the  pasture  lot  and  in  the 
barn.  I  have  only  a  general  impression  of 
those  days,  for  my  body  was  growing  and 
developing  rather  than  my  mind.  I  had  a 
natural  fear  of  all  objects  that  I  suppose 
you  taught  me,  but  how  or  when  you  did  it, 
I  do  not  remember.  It  was  the  winter  that 
I  was  coming  two  years  old  that  my  body 
became  nearly  developed  and  my  mind 
awakened  to  my  surroundings.  I  felt  for 
the  first  time  that  I  was  equal  to  any  of  the 
horses  about  me  in  strength.  I  could  run 
faster  than  any  of  them  and  could  kick  as 
high.  I  had  never  been  touched  by  man  and 
knew  no  restraint  but  the  pasture  fence.  I 
was  just  a  natural  horse,  with  all  a  horse 's 
instincts  well  developed,  backed  by  blood 
well  selected  for  generations.  I  felt,  moth- 
er, just  as  you  say  you  did  at  the  age  of 
two  years,  but  there  our  common  experi- 
ence ceases.  It  seems  that  your  life  has 
been  a  series  of  disappointments,  while 
mine  has  been  a  continuous  development. 
60 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

One  morning  in  March  Mr.  Lamar  and 
Roy  came  into  the  feed  room  and  talked 
very  earnestly  for  some  time,  I  do  not  know 
what  they  said,  for  I  did  not  understand  a 
word  of  man's  language  then,  but,  after 
that  Roy  always  fed  me  in  the  morning  and 
evening  and  seemed  to  claim  me  as  his  own. 
He  went  away  every  day  toward  town  until 
the  corn  was  planted.  I  think  he  went 
where  the  boys  all  collect  together  in  the 
winter  time,  for  I  have  seen  large  crowds 
of  them  together  in  a  large  yard  in  town 
since.  A  week  or  two  after  he  quit  going 
away,  he  opened  my  stable  door  and  drove 
me  over  into  the  little  barn  lot,  where  the 
sheep  are  kept  in  the  winter.  He  came  in 
and  closed  the  gate.  It  frightened  me  very 
much  to  have  a  man  in  such  a  small  place 
with  me,  and  not  be  able  to  get  away.  I  ran 
to  the  farthest  corner,  but  he  followed  me. 
After  he  had  followed  me  around  the  lot 
two  or  three  times  and  I  was  not  quite  so 
afraid  of  him,  Roy  said,  ' '  Come  here, ' '  and 
61 


THE  STOEY  OF 

something  cracked  very  loudly  that  made 
me  jump  and  tremble.  I  noticed  for  the 
first  time  that  he  had  a  long  whip  with  him. 
I  did  not  know  what  it  all  meant,  so  I  tried 
the  harder  to  keep  away  from  him.  He  re- 
peated his  words  several  times,  and  each 
time  the  whip  cracked.  Finally  I  got  into  a 
corner  and  Roy  stood  so  that  I  could  hard- 
ly get  past  him  when  that  whip  struck  me 
around  the  legs,  after  Roy  said  'Come 
here.'  I  did  not  know,  of  course,  what 
'  Come  here '  meant,  but  I  remembered  how 
I  used  to  run  to  you,  mother,  when  I  was 
badly  scared,  and  so  I  went  up  to  Roy,  for 
I  was  not  as  afraid  of  him  as  I  was  of  the 
whip. 

It  must  have  been  just  what  he  wanted 
me  to  do,  for  he  stroked  my  neck  with 
his  hand,  which  soothed  me  so  much  that 
I  felt  at  once  that  I  had  found  a  friend. 
Roy  started  backwards,  touching  me  on  the 
shoulder  with  his  hand,  just  as  he  said, 
'Come  here,'  and  then  that  whip  touched 
62 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

me  across  the  hips.  I  kept  close  to  Roy,  for 
somehow  I  felt  that  he  would  not  hurt  me. 
He  backed  around  the  lot,  stopping  every 
few  yards  and  starting  with  the  words, 
'Come  here.'  I  soon  learned  what  'Come 
here'  meant.  Whenever  I  started  as  soon 
as  Roy  said  'Come  here,'  the  whip  did  not 
touch  me.  I  will  never  forget  how  it  sur- 
prised me  when  Roy  got  on  my  right  side 
and  turned  the  other  way.  It  did  not  look 
at  all  like  it  did  when  we  were  going  the 
other  direction.  Roy  was  very  patient  with 
me  and  seemed  to  understand  that  I  would 
have  to  learn  anew  on  that  side.  I  soon 
learned  to  follow  in  both  directions  and  to 
follow  with  my  head  at  his  shoulder  when 
his  back  was  to  me. 

He  taught  me  about  the  whip  that  I  had 
feared  so  much.  I  touched  it  with  my 
nose  and  Roy  rubbed  it  over  me  and 
swung  it  around  in  front  of  and  over 
me,  until  I  found  that  it  would  not  huii; 
me,  unless  I  did  not  do  the  proper 
63 


THE  STORY  OF 

thing.  Roy  took  me  in  the  larger  bam  lot 
and  I  followed  him  there,  and  from  there 
we  went  around  in  the  front  barn  yard,  by 
the  hou3e.  The  men,  seeing  the  women  all 
out,  stopped  their  work  and  watched  us 
walk  around.  I  do  not  know  what  there 
was  so  curious  about  it,  but  they  seemed  to 
think  it  was  a  wonderful  thing  that  I  should 
follow  Roy  without  anything  on  my  head. 
While  they  were  watching,  Roy  taught  me 
to  put  my  head  in  the  halter.  He  first  let 
me  touch  it  and  rubbed  it  all  over  my  head 
to  get  me  accustomed  to  it,  for  I  had  never 
seen  one  before.  Then  he  drew  away  from 
me  and  said,  'Come  here,'  and  held  the 
halter  a  little  in  front  of  him.  I  stuck  out 
my  nose  to  touch  it  and  he  slipped  it  care- 
fully on  my  head.  He  did  this  a  few  times 
till  I  learned  to  put  my  nose  down  into  the 
halter.  This  made  the  people  all  laugh  and 
they  said  something  to  Roy  about  'Great 
success  with  such  a  wild  colt,'  and  many 
other  things  that  pleased  Roy  and  made  me 
64 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

more  confident,  for  Roy  stroked  me  fre- 
quently. 

I  was  led  into  the  horse  stall  and  tied 
here  in  this  stall  for  the  first  time,  and  ever 
since  I  have  been  with  the  other  horses. 
The  next  day  Roy  took  me  out  and  we 
walked  around  together  for  a  few  minutes, 
some  of  the  men  asking  whether  I  had  for- 
gotten. Roy  explained  to  them  something 
about  a  horse 's  mind  being  different  from  a 
man's  and  that  a  horse  did  not  have  to 
think  much,  consequently  when  a  thing  was 
distinctly  fixed  on  a  horse's  brain  they 
never  forgot  it,  and  that  he  was  repeating 
the  lesson  to  fix  it  more  thoroughly  on  my 
mind.  We  had  walked  together  but  a  few 
minutes  when  Roy  had  me  come  to  him  and 
put  my  head  in  the  halter,  but  this  time  he 
pressed  my  lower  jaw  inside  the  mouth 
with  his  thumb,  and  when  I  opened  my 
mouth  he  slipped  something  smooth  into  it. 
I  didn  't  know  what  it  was,  but  I  had  learned 
in  my  first  lesson  that  Roy  would  not  hurt 
65 


THE  STOBY  OF 

me,  and  so  I  did  not  try  to  get  away,  but 
only  tried  to  spit  it  out.  The  bridle  was 
slipped  on  and  off  several  times  in  suc- 
cession, until  I  got  so  I  would  open  my 
mouth  for  the  bit.  The  head  gear  was  put 
on  my  head  so  carefuly  that  my  ears  were 
not  hurt  in  the  least.  A  strap  was  then 
buckled  around  my  body  and  lines  put  in 
the  bit.  I  tried  at  first  to  follow  Eoy,  but 
by  gently  pulling  on  the  lines,  he  taught  me 
to  keep  my  head  away  from  him.  I  soon 
learned  to  obey  the  pulls  of  the  line.  In  the 
same  careful,  precise  way  in  which  he 
taught  me  *  Come  here, '  Roy  taught  me  the 
meaning  of  *  Get  up. '  He  said  it  so  distinct- 
ly and  so  often  used  it  that  I  could  never 
forget  it,  and  it  seems  that  my  muscles  al- 
most start  sometimes  at  'Get  up,'  without 
me  thinking  about  it.  Roy  was  careful  that 
the  bit  was  kept  in  the  proper  place,  so  that 
my  mouth  was  not  hurt  in  the  least.  As 
soon  as  we  began  to  get  tired,  I  was  taken 
to  the  stable.  My  brain  and  nerves  were  in 
66 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN'' 

excellent  shape  to  retain  all  I  had  learned. 
I  had  received  caresses  for  what  I  had  done 
correctly,  and  the  whip  had  struck  me 
whenever  I  did  wrong,  so  I  had  distinct  im- 
pressions of  what  was  right. 

I  had  a  good  night 's  rest  with  good  feed, 
and  good  bedding,  and  after  a  good 
grooming  the  next  morning,  I  was  ready 
for  another  lesson.  The  lesson  soon  came, 
but  it  was  only  for  a  Balf  hour.  We 
did  again  the  things  that  I  had  learned 
and  learned  in  addition  the  new  com- 
mand, 'Whoa.'  I  was  so  restless  at  that 
age  that  I  remember  it  was  very  hard 
for  me  to  stand.  The  commanding  tone  and 
the  firm  pull  on  the  lines  made  me  obedient. 
The  command  was  repeated  several  times, 
so  that  I  could  do  nothing  else  but  stop  at 
the  command.  In  the  next  lesson,  Roy 
rubbed  a  pole  over  me  and  around  my  hind 
legs.  I  was  afraid  of  it  at  first,  for  my  hair 
was  short  and  my  skin  sensitive.  I  touched 
the  pole  with  my  nose  several  times  and 
67 


THE  STOEY  OF 

found  it  would  not  hurt  me.  The  pole  was 
placed  under  my  tail  and  across  my  hips, 
and  gradually  my  tail  was  raised.  It  felt 
ticklish  at  first,  but  after  it  was  repeated 
several  times,  I  did  not  care  for  it.  I  won- 
dered at  the  time  why  that  was  done,  but  in 
a  few  moments  I  found  out. 

'  *  The  harness  was  brought  out,  and  after 
letting  me  feel  of  it,  it  was  placed  on 
my  back.  My  tail  was  gently  lifted,  just  as  if 
to  lay  the  pole  across,  and  the  crupper  was 
placed  under  my  tail.  The  rein  was  fastened 
so  that  I  could  not  get  my  head  down.  The 
rein  and  the  harness,  together  with  being 
driven  out  into  the  front  barnyard  and  out 
into  the  road  rather  confused  me.  Roy 
seemed  to  understand  that  a  borse  could 
think  of  but  one  thing  at  a  time  and,  by  re- 
peating what  I  had  learned,  soon  had  my 
confidence  restored. 

"He  drove  me  up  to  a  buggy,  which 
I  touched.     We  then  went  around  it  and 
saw  it  from  all  sides.     We  then  stopped 
68 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

to  rest  awhile  and  another  man  pulled  the 
buggy  around  us.  I  watched  it  all  the  time. 
Roy  always  used  a  bridle  that  left  me  the 
use  of  my  eyes,  and  I  always  have  made 
good  use  of  them  and,  I  think,  every  horse 
should.  Roy  then  rubbed  a  pole  along  my 
sides  and  across  my  thighs,  and  the  buggy 
was  pulled  up  close  to  me.  This  time  a 
pole  came  along  each  side  and  was  fast- 
ened to  my  harness.  I  was  so  intent  on 
watching  the  buggy  and  those  poles 
that  I  did  not  hear  Roy  say  'Get  up,'  His 
assistant  pushed  me  sideways  and  started 
me  with  that  buggy  following  close  to  me. 
It  scared  me  so  badly  that  I  hardly  knew 
what  I  was  doing.  The  fellow  holding  my 
bridle  and  the  calm,  'Whoa,'  from  Roy 
stopped  me.  We  started  and  stopped  a  few 
times  before  I  felt  safe  with  the  buggy  fast 
to  me. 

"Roy  then  got  in  the  buggy  and  drove 
to   the  left   around   the   front   lot   a   few 
times.    When  he  turned  to  go  to  the  right  I 
69 


THE  STOEY  OF 

did  not  want  to  go,  for  there  was  that  pole 
pressing  me  on  the  side  that  I  had  not  felt 
before.  I  had  not  the  time  to  fully  make 
up  my  mind  not  to  go,  before  Roy  touched 
me  with  the  whip,  which  decided  me  to  go 
at  once.  It  was  much  easier  to  walk  around 
with  only  a  surcingle  than  with  a  buggy, 
but,  by  Roy's  careful  handling  and  pa- 
tience, I  soon  learned  to  walk  and  turn  with 
the  buggy.  I  found  that  *  Whoa '  and  *  Get- 
up  '  meant  just  the  same  when  hitched  to  the 
buggy  as  they  did  before. 

*^It  pleased  me  very  much  to  know 
that  I  was  getting  along  so  well  in  under- 
standing Roy  and  learning  something  new 
each  day.  It  must  be  great  joy  to  men 
to  learn  so  much,  for  it  gives  us  horses  such 
pleasure  to  be  well  trained.  I  never  rea- 
lized before,  mother,  why  you  have  been  so 
despondent  and  out  of  sorts  with  the  world. 
I  have  seen  many  other  horses  that  look  so 
hopeless  and  discouraged,  and  I  suppose  it 
is  because  there  is  so  little  understanding 
70 


"KATE"  AND  *'QUEEN" 

between  them  and  their  masters.  I  have 
noticed,  on  the  other  hand,  horses  that  look 
happy  and  contented.  They  have  great 
pride  in  themselves  and  their  carriages. 

' '  The  bond  that  binds  them  to  their  mas- 
ters is  strong.  They  respond  to  the  slightest 
intimation  of  the  lines  or  least  change  in 
the  tone  of  the  voice.  It  seems  that  after  the 
first  few  lessons  of  my  early  training  that 
Roy  and  I  understood  each  other  perfectly. 
Of  course,  there  were  many  things  for  me 
to  learn,  but  I  felt  the  way  was  open  for  me 
to  learn  what  I  did  not  know.  Roy  always 
read  my  thoughts  when  I  indicated  by  my 
ears  and  eyes  that  there  was  something  that 
I  did  not  understand,  and  always  did  the 
right  thing  to  make  me  understand.  He 
never  left  me  to  find  out  new  ways  without 
directing  me  in  the  best  way  to  learn. 

"An  example  of  the  thoroughness  of 

his  teaching  was  the  manner  in  which  he 

handled  my  feet.    The  lesson  with  the  pole 

had  taught  me  not  to  fear  anything  touch- 

71 


THE  STORY  OF 

ing  me  anywhere  on  my  body  or  legs.  He 
lifted  each  foot  and  had  me  rest  my  hind 
foot  backward  on  the  point  of  the  toe.  He 
continued  to  drill  me  when  he  curried  me, 
until  I  learned  to  know  when  he  asked  for 
my  foot  and  lifted  it  up  for  him.  He 
pounded  each  foot  lightly  with  his  hand,  so 
I  had  no  fear  whatever  when  we  went  to 
the  shop. 

*'I  remember  how  it  eased  my  feet  to 
have  the  iron  shoes  protecting  them  from 
the  gravel  and  stones.  Had  he  not  trained 
me  in  this  way  at  home,  where  I  was  accus- 
tomed to  being  handled,  I  am  sure  I  would 
have  resisted  under  the  fright  caused  by 
the  flying  sparks  and  strange  noises  all 
about  me. 

''These  preliminary  lessons,  I  am  sure, 
saved  me  from  many  a  bad  fright,  and 
probably  kept  me  from  forming  many  bad 
habits.  I  know  that  log  down  by  Johnson's 
woods,  too,  mother,  and  remember  well  the 
first  time  I  ever  saw  it.  It  was  the  first  drive 
72 


"KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

we  had  taken  on  the  pike.  I  had  seen  a  few 
objects  on  the  road  that  were  new  to  me, 
but  that  log  attracted  my  attention  when  we 
were  some  distance  away.  It  is  old  and 
black  with  some  green  moss  on  it,  now,  and 
looks  frightful.  I  was  watching  it  closely 
and  was  nearly  even  with  it  when  there  was 
a  crackling  in  the  brush  and  Johnson's  old 
black  and  white  dog  leaped  upon  the  log 
with  a  yelp.  It  startled  me  so  that  I  jumped 
some,  and  probably  would  have  jumped 
some  distance  sideways  if  Roy's  calm,  con- 
fident, 'Whoa,'  had  not  iTing  in  my  ears  just 
as  I  was  getting  myself  ready  for  the 
spring.  Of  course  I  stopped,  and  had  no 
more  than  done  so  when  I  saw  the  dog. 
Roy  talked  to  me  quietly  and  with  loose 
lines  had  me  go  up  to  the  log  and  touch  it. 
You  can  hardly  imagine  how  foolish  I  felt 
when  I  saw  what  it  really  was. 

' '  Roy  had  taught  me  to  go  up  to  fright- 
ful objects,  before  we  left  the  barn  that  day 
by  having  me  walk  over  papers  and  stand 
73 


THE  STOEY  OF 

while  all  sorts  of  noises  were  being  made. 
Of  all  things,  though,  that  old  buffalo  robe 
hanging  on  the  fence  scared  me  the  worst. 
It  required  all  of  Roy's  ingenuity,  I  think, 
to  get  me  close  to  it.  I  went  a  few  steps 
and  walked  away.  Once  I  had  crept  close 
to  it,  and  when  I  blew  my  breath  at  it, 
it  scared  me  so  I  nearly  jumped  back  on 
Roy.  I  tried  to  run  away  from  it,  but  he 
kept  tight  lines  and  kept  my  head  towards 
it.  After  several  minutes '  work,  I  got  close 
enough  to  it,  that  by  stretching  my  neck  as 
far  as  I  could,  I  touched  it.  After  I  touched 
it  a  couple  of  times,  I  found  it  would  not 
hurt  me,  and  now  whenever  I  see  any  big 
bugaboo  and  hear  Roy's  'Take  care,  walk 
up  to  it, '  I  think  of  the  old  robe,  and  go  up 
and  touch  it.  A  wet  spot  in  the  road  fright- 
ened me  when  I  first  noticed  it,  but  I  went 
through  it  and  stepped  on  it  hard,  and  it 
did  not  hurt  me  in  the  least. 

"Some  distance  further  a  large,  white 
object  loomed  up  before  us.    I  looked  from 
74 


X 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

side  to  side  with  the  intention  of  turning 
around  and  going  back,  but  Roy  encour- 
aged me  by  his  voice  and  made  me  to  un- 
derstand that  he  was  master  and  must  be 
obeyed.  As  the  object  approached  it  took 
one  side  of  the  road,  while  I  walked  on  the 
other.  When  we  came  beside  it,  Roy  drove 
me  right  up  to  it.  I  feared  it  and  trembled, 
but  Roy  must  be  obeyed,  and  he  had  never 
fooled  me  into  trouble.  There  was  noth- 
ing to  do  but  march  up.  I  touched  it  with 
my  nose  and  found  it  to  be  only  a  large 
wagon  with  a  white  top.  I  have  touched  so 
many  strange  things  and  always  found 
them  to  be  harmless,  that  I  have  overcome 
my  natural  fear  and  nervousness,  and  now 
have  no  fear  of  any  object. 

I  did  not  like  the  looks  of  cars  and  auto- 
mobiles when  I  first  saw  them.  We  were 
going  to  town  one  day,  when,  rounding  a 
curve  we  came  upon  an  automobile  standing 
beside  the  road.  A  man  was  lying  flat  on 
his  back  underneath  it,  with  only  his  feet 
75 


THE  STORY  OF 

protruding.  From  the  inside  somewhere 
came  a  terrible  pounding  noise.  I  learned 
afterward  it  was  an  engine. 

I  was  very  much  frightened  at  first,  but 
Roy  drove  me  right  up  to  it  and  waited. 
With  trembling  limbs  and  dilated  nostrils, 
I  reached  out  and  touched  the  automobile  to 
see  if  it  would  hurt  me.  When  I  had  satis- 
fied myself  that  it  was  harmless,  Roy  spoke 
to  me  and  we  drove  on.  Now  I  am  perfectly 
indifferent  to  automobiles  and  allow  them 
to  run  close  to  me. 

"Roy's  sister,  Rose,  came  to  the  buggy 
one  evening,  just  as  we  were  starting  on 
our  third  or  fourth  drive,  and  said  she 
would  like  to  go  along,  that  'The  colt  was 
so  well  behaved.'  Before  going  very  far 
she  asked  to  drive.  Before  Roy  would  let 
her  have  the  lines,  he  told  her  she  must  first 
learn  to  drive;  that  the  ease  of  the  horse 
depended  upon  the  driver.  He  taught  her 
to  hold  the  lines  so,  that  they  would  not  be 
continually  drawing  against  my  mouth,  nor 
76 


THE  STORY  OF 

so  loose  that  she  would  have  no  control  with 
them.  He  instructed  her  as  to  the  different 
commands,  that  I  knew  and  their  meaning. 
Rose  took  the  lines  and  drove  me  the  re- 
mainder of  that  drive  and  did  very  well. 
Of  course,  I  did  not  understand  her  as  well 
as  I  did  Roy,  but  in  a  few  drives  I  under- 
stood her  as  well  as  I  did  him. 

**Mr.  Lamar  and  the  farm  hands  said 
that  Rose  was  quite  a  horsewoman.  They 
praised  Roy  continually  for  his  success  in 
breaking  'Old  Kate's  colt,'  as  they  called 
me  often,  and  praised  him  yet  more  that  he 
had  done  his  work  so  thoroughly,  that  a 
woman  could  drive  me.  Even  yet  I  hear 
men  and  women  ask  Mrs.  Lamar  and  Rose, 
when  they  drive  me  to  the  city,  if  they  are 
not  afraid  to  drive  such  a  high-spirited 
horse,  when  there  is  so  much  to  be  fright- 
ened at.  Don't  they  know  a  horse  well 
enough  to  understand  that  1  must  obey  the 
commands  that  have  been  drilled  into  me, 
and  that  I  understand  a  woman  as  well  as 
78 


^>v 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

a  man  when  they  talk  the  same  language? 
It  seems  they  do  not  or  they  would  not  ask 
such  foolish  questions." 

Here  Old  Kate  rushed  against  her  stall, 
with  mouth  open  and  ears  back,  and 
said  to  Queen:  "I  see,  daughter,  that  your 
path  has  been  easy.  You  have  not  had  any 
of  the  trials  that  really  try  the  behavior  of 
horses.  You  have  never  been  in  an  acci- 
dent or  been  mistreated."  Queen  re- 
plied: "I  can  not  say  that  I  have  been 
badly  mistreated,  nor  that  I  have  even  been 
in  any  bad  accidents,  but  there  have  been 
some  occurrences  that  were  far  from  pleas- 
ant. A  few  weeks  ago  I  was  badly  fright- 
ened, and  came  very  nearly  being  killed. 
Rose  and  three  other  girls  had  driven  me 
over  to  an  uncle's  to  spend  the  evening. 
The  evening  was  warm,  and  we  did  not 
start  home  until  nearly  midnight.  We  were 
coming  down  the  valley  road  that  crosses 
the  railroad  track  with  high  hills  on  each 
side.  It  is  a  dangerous  place  and  many 
79 


THE  STORY  OF 

men  and  horses  have  been  killed  there.  I 
was  trotting  along  very  fast,  for  the  girls 
were  anxious  to  get  home,  when  my  keen 
ears  heard  in  the  distance  the  midnight  ex- 
press. I  expected  every  moment  that  Rose 
would  stop  me  and  listen,  but  she  was 
laughing  and  talking  and  did  not  hear  the 
train,  and,  I  suppose,  did  not  think  of  the 
crossing.  On  I  went,  and  nearer  roared  the 
train.  We  were  only  a  few  rods  from  the 
track  and  the  train  just  around  the  curve, 
as  near  as  I  could  tell  from  the  sound. 
Would  not  the  girls  stop  laughing  and  talk- 
ing and  check  me  before  we  got  on  the 
track?  Maybe  they  intended  to  get  across, 
I  thought,  but  I  knew  we  could  not.  On  I 
went,  but  as  my  head  passed  the  cut,  I  saw 
the  express  coming  only  a  few  rods  away. 
Just  then  the  girls  stopped  talking  and 
heard  the  roar  and  the  headlight  flashed  on 
us.  I  was  hastening  across,  since  I  had  not 
heard  the  command  to  stop.  I  was  within 
ten  feet  of  the  track,  and  the  train  nearly 
80 


N 


THE  STORY  OF 

upon  us.  The  girls  screamed  such  screams 
as  I  never  heard  before,  but  in  the  roar  of 
the  train  and  the  screaming  of  the  girls,  I 
heard  the  command, '  Whoa. '  I  set  my  feet. 
I  was  trotting  so  fast  and  the  surrey 
pressed  so  hard  that  I  slid  nearly  on  the 
track.  I  turned  my  head  sideways  and  the 
express  whizzed  by.  It  was  past  in  an  in- 
stant. The  girls  sobbed  and  cried.  A^^iy 
they  did,  I  do  not  know.  Rose  clung  around 
my  neck,  patting  me  and  saying,  'Good, 
faithful  Queen,  you  saved  our  lives  by  your 
obedience. '  I  told  her,  the  best  I  could,  that 
I  was  glad  she  had  told  me  to  stop  and  that 
she  had  saved  my  life,  too. 

"Roy  has  been  very  careful  about  who 
has  driven  me,  and,  consequently,  I  have 
not  been  badly  mistreated.  I  have  heard 
Roy  tell  his  father  that  any  horse  can  be 
spoiled  by  careless  or  abusive  drivers. 

''Earlj'-  in  the  summer  two  young  fel- 
lows from  the  city  came  to  visit  Roy,  for  a 
few  weeks.  The  three  boys  often  drove  me 
82 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

to  different  places,  and  Roy  was  often  com- 
plimented on  his  beautiful,  well  trained 
horse.  One  afternoon  I  was  hitched  to  the 
old  spring  wagon  with  two  or  three  long 
poles  in  it.  I  heard  Eoy  say  something 
about  being  too  busy  to  go  along  and  asked 
the  boys  whether  they  understood  driving. 
One  fellow  replied  that  he  had  had  a  great 
deal  of  experience  with  horses  and  knew 
how  to  handle  them.  I  do  not  deny  the  first 
part  of  his  statement,  but  we  had  not  gone 
very  far  before  I  knew  the  latter  part  was 
false.  Some  people  are  like  some  horses; 
they  know  a  great  deal,  but  what  they  know 
is  all  wrong.  Whenever  he  wanted  me  to  go 
a  little  faster  he  gave  me  a  jerk  and  a  slap 
with  the  lines.  He  kept  nagging  me  in  that 
way,  all  the  way  to  the  river.  My  mouth 
hurt  and  I  felt  irritable  till  we  got  there. 
Roy  always  hitches  me  in  the  shade  and 
loosens  my  rein  when  we  stop,  but  that  fel- 
low let  me  stand  in  the  sun  and  left  my 
rein  just  as  if  we  were  driving.  The  boys 
83 


THE  STORY  OF 

sat  on  the  bank  a  part  of  the  afternoon  with 
those  poles  in  the  water.  Later  toward 
evening  they  went  into  the  river  and 
seemed  to  have  a  good  time,  for  the  water 
splashed  a  great  deal,  and  I  could  hear 
them  laughing  and  shouting.  I  whinneyed 
several  times  for  them  to  come  and  tie  me 
in  the  shade,  but  they  did  not  seem  to 
hear  me. 

**It  was  about  dark  when  they  came  to 
start  home.  When  we  started,  one  hit  me  a 
cruel  blow  with  one  of  those  long  poles  and 
only  laughed  when  I  jumped  and  took  them 
swiftly  out  to  the  main  road.  The  fellow 
kept  nagging  me  with  those  jerks  on  the 
lines  until  I  was  very  nervous  and  going  at 
a  great  rate.  The  faster  I  went  the  louder 
the  boys  shouted  and  laughed.  Every  few 
steps  the  boy  on  the  left  side  would  prod 
me  with  the  pole.  I  kept  increasing  my 
speed  until  I  was  going  as  fast  as  Roy  had 
ever  driven  me.  We  were  approaching  the 
place  where  those  deep  ruts  are  and  I  ex- 
84 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

pected  them  to  slow  down,  but  they  did  not. 
When  the  front  wheel  struck  the  rut  the 
boys  bounced  off  the  seat  and  yelled 
'Whoa.'  I  stopped,  and  the  boys  nearly 
fell  over  the  dash.  One  struck  me  with  the 
pole  and  yelled,  'Get-up,'  before  they  had 
time  to  straighten  the  seat  and  sit  down.  I 
suppose  the  lines  were  not  straight,  for  just 
as  I  leaped  forward  to  hasten  on,  I  received 
a  sharp  pull  on  one  line  that  sent  me  to  the 
side  of  the  road  far  enough  for  the  front 
wheel  to  strike  a  large  stone.  I  saw  the  seat 
and  a  couple  of  objects,  that  may  have  been 
boys,  fly  up  into  the  air  and  light  over  by 
the  fence.  By  the  time  they  lit,  I  was  so  far 
away  I  could  not  hear  what  they  said. ' ' 

Here  Old  Kate  said:  **Now  you  are 
running  up  against  the  real  thing.  You 
smashed  the  old  spring  wagon,  didn't  yout 
You  should  have  knocked  those  boys  out 
with  your  heels  long  before  they  were 
thrown  out."  But  Queen  only  continued: 
"The  jerking  on  my  mouth  and  the  prod- 
85 


THE  STORY  OF 

ding  of  the  pole  ceased,  and  I  soon  took  my 
usual  gait  and  went  home.  Roy  and  Mr. 
Lamar  and  the  women  came  runnig  out, 
very  much  excited.  They  talked  a  few  min- 
utes and  looked  down  the  road.  Roy  then 
got  into  the  wagon,  turned  me  around  and 
drove  me  swiftly  back. 

**We  met  the  boys  about  a  half  mile 
from  the  ruts,  carrying  their  poles  and  the 
wagon  seat.  Roy  and  the  boys  talked 
while  they  put  the  seat  in,  and  I  heard 
the  fellow,  who  had  driven  me,  say  that 
I  was  nervous  and  scared  at  something. 
It  made  me  very  nervous  when  they 
climbed  in  with  those  poles,  but  Roy  took 
the  lines,  and  by  talking  to  me  made  me  un- 
derstand that  those  fellows  would  not  be 
allowed  to  hurt  me.  I  hardly  think  that 
Roy  believed  what  the  fellow  said  about  me, 
for  he  never  allowed  him  to  drive  me  again. 
There  is  only  one  more  incident  that  I  wish 
to  relate,  and  then  I  will  have  finished  my 
brief  story.  It  happened  just  the  evening 
86 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

before  those  men  tied  those  beautiful  rib- 
bons to  my  bridle.  Mr.  Lamar  had  driven 
me  that  morning  to  the  county  fair,  and  had 
with  him  Mrs.  Lamar  and  the  girls.  Roy 
had  taken  special  care  of  me,  for  he  said  he 
expected  me  to  get  first  premium.  I  do  not 
know  what  that  is,  but  he  had  cared  for  me 
so  well  that  I  never  felt  better  in  my  life. 
When  we  arived  on  the  grounds  there  were 
so  many  people  and  so  much  noise,  that  I 
kept  my  head  very  high  and  watched  on  all 
sides.  There  were  banners  and  tents,  and 
noises  of  all  kinds.  I  felt  somewhat  nervous 
but  knew  nothing  would  hurt  me. 

"That  evening  all  had  gotten  into  the 
carriage  and  started  toward  home  when 
they  seemed  to  change  their  minds  and 
turned  toward  another  part  of  the  fair 
grounds,  where  I  saw  a  large  round  tent 
or  something  like  that.  The  girls  kept 
talking  about  a  'balloon.'  There  was  a 
large  crowd  of  people  between  us  and  the 
object,  and  many  screeching  noises  all 
87 


THE  STORY  OF 

around  us.  A  horse  was  tied  here  and 
there  not  far  away.  We  did  not  stand 
there  long  when  the  people  gave  a  shout 
and  the  big  balloon  went  up  in  the  air  with 
something  dangling  from  it  that  looked 
somewhat  like  a  man.  The  horses  about  us 
tugged  at  their  ropes  and  some  reared  and 
whirled  around.  I  looked  up,  and  there 
came  that  balloon  directly  over  me.  I  had 
seen  such  an  object  before.  My  legs 
trembled  and  the  sweat  broke  out  over  me. 
Mr.  Lamar  talked  to  me  but  I  was  so  scared 
I  stood  and  pranced. 

''Mrs.  Lamar  and  the  girls  gave  a 
scream  from  the  carriage.  I  looked  back, 
although  I  feared  to  take  my  eyes  off  the 
balloon,  and  there  came  a  runaway  horse, 
with  no  bridle,  and  a  carriage  hitched 
to  it.  The  horse  was  panic-stricken, 
and  was  coming  directly  toward  the  car- 
riage. Mr.  Lamar  spoke  to  me  and  I 
stepped  up.  The  horse  just  missed,  our 
hind  wheels  and  passed  on  to  my  right. 
88 


''KATE"  AND  "QUEEN" 

Two  women,  a  few  feet  from  us,  were 
knocked  to  the  earth  by  that  horse  and  car- 
riage. Men  yelled,  'Ho,'  'Whoa,'  'Look 
out,'  'Get  away  there,"  all  about  us.  I 
never  heard  such  an  uproar  nor  saw  people 
so  excited  as  they  were  there.  That 
aroused  me  the  more.  Excited  horses  and 
excited  people  make  other  horses  and  peo- 
ple excited.  Some  one  yelled,  'Look  out, 
Lamar,'  and  there  came  that  horse,  at 
break-neck  speed  directly  toward  me.  I  had 
not  time  to  back,  and  a  building  was  too 
close  for  the  horse  and  carriage  to  pass. 
The  runaway  horse  struck  me  near  the 
shoulder.  The  shaft  of  the  rimaway  horse 
slipped  under  my  shaft  band  and  belly- 
band,  and  broke  both.  The  front  wheel  ran 
between  my  fore  legs  as  the  horse  tore  on 
in  its  mad  flight.  The  carriage  top  bumped 
my  head  and  disappeared  in  a  crowd  of 
people.  Added  to  this  was  the  confusion  cre- 
ated by  other  frantic  horses,  the  screams  of 
women  and  children,  and  the  commands  of 
89 


THE  STORY  OF 

frightened  men.  I  started  to  run.  Any- 
where, or  any  way  to  get  out  of  that  awful 
confusion.  I  had  hardly  given  my  first  leap 
when  in  the  midst  of  the  din,  I  recognized 
Mr.  Lamar's  'Whoa,  Queen.'  I  stopped  sud- 
denly and  the  shafts  flew  up  over  my  back 
and  the  cross  piece  struck  me  across  the 
hips.  Again  the  welcome,  'Whoa,  Queen,' 
soothed  my  overtaxed  nerves,  and  Mr. 
Lamar  stopped  from  the  carriage  and 
stroked  my  neck.  How  soothing  that  was,  I 
can  never  forget,  for  the  sweat  was  drop- 
ping from  my  limbs  and  my  whole  body 
trembled.  I  could  hardly  get  my  breath, 
and  my  heart  felt  like  it  would  burst.  I 
soon  felt  quiet  and  easy,  for  Mrs.  Lamar 
and  the  children  gathered  around  me  and 
rubbed  my  nose  and  stroked  my  neck.  I 
never  saw  Mr.  Lamar  so  moved  as  he  was 
that  evening.  When  he  came  to  my  stall 
before  closing  the  barn  for  the  night  he 
dropped  in  an  extra  handful  of  oats  and 
stood  rubbing  my  neck,  saying  something 
90 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

about,  'Faithful  animal,'  and  'Again  you 
have  saved  the  lives  of  my  loved  ones.' 
Then  he  stepped  over  in  front  of  your  stall, 
mother,  and  said, '  Poor  Old  Kate,  how  you 
have  been  abused  and  mistreated.  What  a 
noble  horse  you  might  have  been  if  we  had 
only  understood  you.  It  would  have  saved 
us  many  accidents  and  you  many  bruises.' 
He  then  said  something  about  'how  much 
good  those  colt  training  lessons  did  for  Roy 
and  the  entire  household,'  and  passed  on 
out  of  the  bam  and  his  lantern  disappeared 
around  the  corner  of  the  kitchen. 

"Yesterday  afternoon,  while  we  were 
yet  in  front  of  the  amphitheater,  after  the 
men  gave  me  the  ribbons  a  large,  well 
dressed  gentleman  stepped  up  to  Roy  and 
asked  if  I  was  for  sale.  Roy  replied  that  I 
was  not.  The  gentleman  said,  'You  would 
part  with  her  for  three  hundred  dollars, 
would  you  not?'  Roy  replied  that  he  con- 
sidered me  worth  more  than  that  if  he 
should  wish  to  sell  me. 
91 


THE  STORY  OF 

i  i  rpjjg  gentleman  then  offered  four  Imn- 
dred  dollars,  but  was  promptly  refused. 

' '  The  gentleman  then  said : '  Mr.  Lamar, 
you  have  a  horse  of  remarkable  beauty  and 
intelligence.  She  is  free  from  all  blemishes 
and  scars.  Her  age  adds  to  her  value.  I 
have  been  searching  for  a  horse  for  my 
wife  and  daughter  that  would  combine 
beauty  and  high  spirit  with  docility.  I  had 
begun  to  fear  I  would  never  find  so  rare  a 
combination.  The  judges  here  today  have 
decided  your  horse  superior  to  all  others  in 
symmetry  and  spirit.  Yesterday  I  saw  the 
accident  that  happened  to  your  father  and 
family.  I  know  now  that  your  horse  will 
stand  all  tests.  For  the  sake  of  my  wife 
and  daughter  I  will  raise  my  offer  to  five 
hundred  dollars. ' 

**Roy  turned  and  looked  at  me  a  mo- 
ment and  then  turned  to  the  man  and  said : 
*Mr.  Whitcomb,  my  mother  and  sister  are 
just  as  much  to  me  and  to  my  father  as 
your  wife  and  daughter  are  to  you.  Twice 
92 


''KATE"  AND  ''QUEEN" 

this  horse  has  saved  the  lives  of  my  sisters. 
They  think  too  much  of  her  for  me  to  sell 
her  from  them,  and  I  can  not  accept  your 
offer. ' 

"They  talked  a  while  longer,  and  I 
heard  Koy  tell  Mr.  Lamar  that  evening  that 
Mr.  Whitcomb  had  offered  him  fifty  dollars 
to  train  his  thoroughbred  colt.  I  suppose 
that  is  why  they  are  fixing  up  that  other 
stall  today." 

The  horses  whinneyed  their  satisfaction 
when  Queen  finished  her  story,  and  settled 
down  in  their  stalls  to  dream  of  peaceful 
pastures  and  the  dawn  of  the  day  when  all 
men  should  seek  intelligently  to  know  their 
horses  and  apply  sane  and  systematic 
methods  to  their  education. 


(The   story  has   an   additional   charm 
and  more  practical  hearing  to  those  read- 
ers who  have  studied  Prof.  Jesse  Beery's 
Correspondence  Course.) 
93 


s 


Q 


Schrol  of  Veterinsffy  Medfeine ; 
Tufts  University 

^affh  Grafton,  MA  OlSS^ 


